Prices of tomatoes, eggs and 28 other items record surge: PBS

The average prices of 30 essential items, including tomatoes, diesel, petrol, cooking oil, vegetable ghee, potatoes, etc., rose during the outgoing week, provisional figures released by the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) said.

The weekly inflation, based on the Sensitive Price Index (SPI), for the week that ended on November 11 registered an increase of 1.81% for the combined income group, going up from 164.53 points during the week that ended on November 4 to 167.5 points in the week under review.

Prices of six items, including sugar, pulse mash and wheat flour bag declined. Meanwhile, the rates of 15 essential goods remained unchanged.

The bureau, in its weekly report, said that among food items, the price of tomatoes increased by a significant 18.7%. Meanwhile, a 5-litre tin of cooking oil, 1kg of  vegetable ghee, bananas, bread, eggs, potatoes and onions recorded an increase of 4.27%, 3.28%, 3.04%, 2.84%, 1.82%, 1.77%, and 1.51%, respectively.

Among non-food items, prices of diesel, petrol, electricity for Quarter 1 (Q1) rose by 6.04%, 5.78%, and 2.74%, respectively.

During the week under review, the price of sugar dropped by 9.35%, while the price of moong (pulse), wheat flour, and garlic recorded a decrease of 0.42%, 0.26% and 0.04%.

The SPI for the lowest income group increased by 0.96% compared to the previous week.

The data further said the index for the group stood at 178.35 points against 175.63 points in the previous week, while on a year-on-year basis, the inflation based on the SPI increased 17.37%.